When You Smile
by The Real F'n Scorp
Summary: "He is not so sad when you smile for him." Rei turned her head to look at her. "So always smile for him, Raya-san. It is what makes him happy." A gift!fic for NeoMiniTails


**A/N:** Hello m'dears… and welcome!

Please, if you like this story, click the follow/favorite button. Also, reviews are deeply cherished!

This is a gift!fic for the wonderful NeoMiniTails to say thank you for your friendship, your support, and your encouragement!

**Disclaimer:** I own nada but for Raya. Everything else belongs to DC and the SM franchise :)

S/N: This story is based off a scene in one of Neo's stories: **Just Smile: Forgotten Memories**

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_I just know something is gonna happen today_.

That was the first clearly logical thing that ten-year-old Raya thought while she stood quietly beside the tall and (in her rather jaded opinion) darkly handsome Bruce Wayne. It was the first time Bruce had agreed to bring her with him on one of his international trips. Since her mother's death a little over six months ago, he'd kept her sequestered inside Wayne Manor, allowing her the quiet and familiarity of his shadow shrouded halls and damp caves in which to grieve. The only time she left the grounds was when she was in the company of either him or her uncle, James Gordon. She'd been more than content with her living arrangements, and more than willing to remain out of sight of the scrutinizing vampires all too eager to feast upon her pain.

However, when Bruce's other charge, and Raya's best friend, came down with the chicken pox, she'd made the decision to accompany Bruce in Richard's stead. She'd reasoned that it wouldn't be the first time, nor would it be the last, that she'd parade herself in public, pretending to be something she was not for a crowd of people who were singularly unimportant to her. Only, she wasn't being put on display and made to pretend that she was the well-behaved and loving daughter here. Here, real life was imitating art. The part of the dutiful daughter was being played by a girl who willingly chose to shower the man standing beside her with all the love and adulation coursing through her four foot frame.

What she didn't love- _who, _she mentally corrected, was the man that Bruce had come here to see. Takashi Hino reminded the ten-year-old of her paternal father, Matthew Berkeley Jr. He was a suave, well-dressed, and articulate man who cared more for his political career than he did for people. And by _people_ she really meant the exceptionally pretty girl with the Elizabeth Taylor eyes that Raya saw were brightly alert and watchful. Recognizing a kindred spirit when she saw one, Raya offered a shyly polite smile to the girl—_Rei_, she recalled Bruce telling her that his goddaughter was named.

"Mister Wayne," Governor Hino said politely. "It has been far too long since you have visited us."

"I agree," Bruce replied in that relaxed way which belonged to his public image. "But as a man of business, you understand how demanding it can be to run a corporation like Wayne Enterprises."

"Indeed." Then those cold eyes shifted, sweeping over Raya in such a way that she knew she was being judged. When he turned away a second later, a minute look of disdain tightening the muscles at the corners of his mouth, Raya knew she'd been found lacking. Even by a stranger, being found wanting, stung. "And who is your little companion?"

It was asked in a tone of voice that specified the answer was of no real importance. _Why should it be?_ she thought bitterly. To this man she was of no significance. She was only worth the second it took to study her, figure out if she could serve his aspirations in some form or fashion, and be dismissed when it was determined she wasn't worthy of any such consideration. Raya instantly bristled and went to tell this arrogant man just where he could go, but a gentle hand on her shoulder silently bade her to remain quiet.

She hazarded a glance at Bruce's face. Oh, yes, that thick, impassive mask, the one that he'd cultivated in order to conceal his true thoughts and emotions, was most definitely slipping. She saw a muscle tick in his jaw, her only clue as to how tight a reign he was keeping over himself at that moment. Losing his temper wasn't something that she could let happen. Someone might notice that Bruce Wayne was growling in _Batman's_ voice. He couldn't risk that happening.

Not for her.

Raya understood (all too well) that Bruce was bound by the need to habitually maintain the social mask that he wore. Pretending to be the self-absorbed, spoiled billionaire playboy all of society believed him to be was how he kept his identity as Batman a secret. But Raya could sense that he wanted to drop the act and rip this man to pieces for having insulted her. Knowing that he wanted too was salve to the burn. She moved closer to his side and reached up to slide her fingers around his. She felt the current of surprise that streaked through him at her unexpected move, but another glance at his face revealed that not an ounce of it showed.

_Except in his eyes_, she realized with a start. There was a wealth of feeling turning those eyes as dark and turbulent as a storm ravaged sea.

"This is Raya," Bruce said in a velvet tone. "My other ward."

"I see," was the Governor's coolly uttered reply. Again it was made clear to Raya that who she was, was of no real importance to this man. She contained the same value to him that his own daughter did: none. Even knowing that Bruce was her guardian, that in essence he was her father, did not raise her value any. "Perhaps your ward will do my daughter the honor of accompanying her on a walk around the back gardens?"

Yes, Governor Hino was everything _opposite _of the man who shifted and dropped to one knee so he could look her in the eye. Takashi Hino was a cold, calculating man who only valued his political career. He wasn't able to see that the beautiful girl standing so cool and composed beside him was the most precious of gifts a man could be given. He didn't realize that a daughter's love was worth all the wealth and power in the world.

Bruce Wayne knew, though.

And as Raya peered into those dark blue orbs, she saw every ounce of that love shining back at her.

"Well, imp?" Bruce rumbled in that raspy baritone that was a mixture of his normal speaking voice with that of the one he used as _Batman. "_Will you mind taking a walk in the back gardens with Rei while I speak with Governor Hino?"

"I don't mind," she assured him, smiling that smile she had no way of knowing cast her face in a glow that Bruce found magical. It was as if her skin was glowing because of a thousand candles alight beneath it. He cupped her cheek in his palm, absorbing the warmth from that glow for just for a moment before rising and following the Governor from the room.

"You must be special," Rei Hino said with a slight, shy smile once they'd been left alone.

Raya didn't automatically respond. Truth be told, she wasn't sure how to respond. Sure, she was used to this particular line of conversation. She spoke society lingo almost as fluently as she spoke Japanese. She'd only grown up with that comment spoken to her time and time again. In Gotham, _you must be special _translated to mean that you were one of the _chosen ones. _You were worth cultivating a friendship with. Your pedigree was above reproach. Rich kids like them were taught from birth about how they could only form friendships from among the crème de la crème that society had to offer. Only those with the same blue blood coursing through their veins were considered worthy of girls like _them._

_Princesses_.

That was how society saw girls like Raya Kean and Rei Hino.

Pretty, pampered little princesses.

And people only wanted to be friends with a princess for one reason: to raise their own social status. Nobody wanted to be their friend just because they liked _them. _That was why, until Dick came into her life, Raya hadn't had any friends. She preferred her own company to that of the opportunistic fortune hunters hoping to cultivate a relationship with _her _just so they could forge an alliance with her father. However, Raya had a feeling that Rei Hino did not mean her words in the same way that those other children would have meant them.

No, this sad-eyed girl meant those words.

And that made her someone Raya counted amongst that very short list of people she trusted.

"You're special, too, Hino-san," she replied with a shy smile.

"Please, call me Rei," the petite girl entreated. "If I may call you Raya-san?"

Raya nodded her assent. "I'd like that."

"How long have you been Wayne-san's ward?" Rei asked before indicating that Raya should follow her out into the lavish gardens.

"I have been living with Bruce for the past six months."

Only silently did she add, _since the night my father shot and killed my mother. _She did not share that with the petite girl, however. She followed Rei down one stone path, soothed and calmed by the lush fauna surrounding them.

"You are very important to Wayne-san," Rei said quietly after a few minutes of companionable silence. "He is not so sad when..." she trailed off, frowning lightly.

"When what?" Raya inquired curiously.

"He is not so sad when you smile for him." Rei turned her head to look at her. "So always smile for him, Raya-san. It is what makes him happy."

_Smile for him. _Rei said. It sounded easy enough. _Smile because it makes him happy. _She could do that. She _would_ do that. She'd smile. Just for him. And when Bruce joined them ten minutes later, that's exactly what she did.

She smiled.


End file.
